When taking into account all county residents with earnings age 16-years or older—including part-time workers — women in the county took home about 49% of what men made, according to 2016 U.S. Census estimates.

Pam Gosla, research manager of Michigan Works! Southeast, said women in the county are less likely to go into fields with the biggest payoffs, opting instead for lower paying industries.

"One of the statistics that is probably the most indicative of why is because of how many jobs are in manufacturing, a male dominated industry," Gosla said.

While men occupy more higher paying positions within manufacturing, construction and other high paying fields, women are still climbing pay ladders, she said.

"Most of those (high paying) positions are in the upper age limit of the workforce, and women engineers haven't gotten to that point in their field. Businesses are going to be more likely to hire people with more experience, and women are just entering that curve," she said.

Gosla said traditional thinking about what jobs women should occupy needs to change.

"There are a lot of stereotypical roles that we have been slow to break down," she said. "One of the biggest problems is getting parents to back (female children) getting into non-traditional roles" that pay more, she said.

Another factor could be that women "have a more interrupted work history," often taking time off to raise children, Goslin said.

Bureau of Labor Market Information economic specialist Mark Reffitt said, while the wage gap is due to many factors,the types of jobs men and women occupy shed light on the situation.

More men than women work in manufacturing, one of the highest paying industries in the county, and the opposite is the case for retail, one of the lowest paying, Reffitt said.

"Livingston County has a high share of jobs in manufacturing and retail trade," when compared to other communities, Reffitt said.

About 18% of jobs in the county are in manufacturing, which is one of the highest paying industries, according to 2016 state labor statistics data. The industry is about 70% male dominated.

In 2016, manufacturing's 18% share of the county's job market "was way above average," compared to about 14% of jobs statewide, Reffitt said.

"Manufacturing in that region in general tends to be higher paying than in the rest of Michigan, and those averages are going to throw up the average," he said. "And even if they are commuting out of the county, a lot of men are commuting for high paying auto manufacturing."

Retail trade, which pays below average wages, accounts for 13% of the total jobs in the county. Statewide retail is 11% of jobs. About 53% of retail positions in the county are filled by women, whereas that number is lower statewide at 51%.

More men in the county occupy top income brackets than women. An estimated 44.4% of working men in the county made at least $75,000 year. About 20.7% of working women made that much.

About 34.5% of women made less than $35,000, while fewer men, about 30.8%, fall into the lower income brackets.

One analysis conducted by knowledge sharing website pansop.com ranked the wage gap in the county the 23rd largest in the nation among counties with populations over 59,0000 people.

"This contrast in pay means that Livingston County had one of the highest pay gaps in the nation," pansop.com analyst Kevin Pryor said. "Because the county has a higher income rate than state and national values, that drives it up."

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Eberbach at 517-548-7148 or at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com. Follow her on Facebook @Jen.Eberbach and Twitter @JenEberbach.